Downtime
by nearlynormel
Summary: Being a bat means you don't get much time to relax. Nor does it give you much time for anyone else. But once in a while, a bat gets some downtime. Even if they want it or not. The tales of Tam Fox, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne, and Jason Todd.


_This was honestly bits of pieces of Bat family fanfiction that never really came together right or was to short to make a good story. Literally. The file was actually named- _Batfamily Writing Shit. _But it all sort of came together with a bit of magic on my part. H__ope you enjoy my little good feelings fic. Damian never disappoints. Please review. I own none of these characters. I just hold their reins. _

_..._

"Tim. Tim. Pick up the phone."

Tam Fox was ticked. She had been waiting at the Blue Swan for over an hour. Clearly, some one had been too busy crime fighting to show up for his date.

This would be the fifth one he missed.

Tam was wearing her favorite dress tonight too. It was purple with sequins. She had a thing for purple and sequins. Plus the restaurant was her favorite as well. It had a the best red velvet cake in Gotham. In anywhere. Red velvet cake was Tam's favorite. Did Tim know that?

Of course he did. Tim knew everything.

Tam shut her eyes for a moment.

It must be difficult to be a superhero some days. No matter how hard Tam tried to stay mad at Tim it never worked. He was just doing his job. It had a twenty four seven shift. He chose it. And Tam chose Tim. But still… did superheroes get a break some days. Some downtime? Did they ever slow down?

….

"Stephanie have you ever wondered what would happen if you just slowed down for once?" asked Crystal Brown from across the breakfast table.

Steph raised an eyebrow. Her mother looked serious. Never a good sign.

"Yes, I have. And…."

Intense mental gymnastics were going on here. Duck the bullets and don't throw yourself into your mother's fire. Mom was going somewhere with all of this.

"And what did you think about it?"

Stephanie swallowed a mouthful of sticky waffle. She took a sip of milk clearing her throat.

"It was pretty boring actually."

"Boring? Do you just mean normal?"

There you go. It's not like Stephanie could avoid letting her mother know about the whole Batgirl super hero thing. Batgirl was admitted as to the hospital. For three days. Under her mother's care. Not like she could go up and say, "Hey I have no clue where your daughter is, why I have the same blood as her, and the fact that look exactly like her. Thanks for the assist. Bye bye now."

She would have defiantly gotten grounded for that one.

"I thought we dropped this," stated Stephanie a little more harshly then intended.

Crystal lip curled.

"I mean, I thought you were cool with it. I finally am doing something right for once. You said you were proud of me, I thought you still were."

Okay, good recovery Steph.

Mom's face softened.

"Course I am proud of you, honey."

"Nah, you just say that so I won't return the World's Greatest Mom coffee cup I bought you," Stephanie teased.

Crystal chuckled, stood up, and began clearing the table.

"I mean it. You're my favorite child."

"... Fair enough dearest mother."

Stephanie took one big bite of waffle. She heard the klink of dishes hitting one another as her mom put them into the sink. But that was the only sound. But silence never hung around for too long.

"You've been moving too fast Stephanie Brown."

"…. And we're back on topic."

Crystal turned to face her daughter.

"It's that..." Steph could tell that mom was choosing her words carefully.

"That what?"

"Stephanie Brown, you haven't been to a single college party! You don't have any friends! You have Kara of course, but she never has time! Not that I can blame her. She's probably Wonder Girl or something."

It was scary how close to accurate mom could be sometimes.

But Crystal did have a point. College parties, well any parties, weren't exactly this bats thing, but it would have been nice to be invited to one. Bringing us back to the friend thing. Besides Kara…. what friends did Stephanie have.

"Plus you haven't even declared a major yet, or heaven forbid a boyfriend!"

Crud. The boyfriend.

"All I'm saying is that you're a good kid. All you have been doing for the last year was becoming someone else. You soared so high. I think you deserve a break. Slow down and have some fun."

Stephanie had been quietly listening and chewing all the time her mother was talking. Of course she was taking it seriously. Not like she could afford to take it too seriously though.

"Mom, you do realize that you gave me this talk four adventures ago or something right."

"Yeah, but I mean it more than ever right now."

"Mom, you know that being Batgirl is a crazy responsibility right? Most of my nights consist of being shot at. I am trying my best to get good grades and keep this secret identity thing in check. I really don't have time to be playing around."

Silence.

"Fine if you think I should slow down, I guess I will," Stephanie sighed as she took one last gulp of milk and picked up her plate. It was useless to argue with her mother, and maybe Steph should actually listen to her once. Maybe Cass or Babs would be interested in watching a movie this weekend. Or maybe she could actually call up some of her class mates. There was a party going on at the Pi Kapa Alpha House, along with a certain boy that she had been making small talk with.

"Thanks sweetie." said Crystal as she gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek.

"Nuhh Uh. Don't thank me. I'm only doing this because you're my mom." Stephanie said with a smug smile.

"... Fair enough dearest daughter."

….

"Fair enough, Master Damian. I will leave you and Master Grayson to settle this between yourselves."

"Thank you Pennyworth," said an irritated ten year old. This Robin was not one who liked being benched.

"This is a waste of my time Grayson."

"Come on Damian. For Alf? For me?"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"Damian, pretty please?"

"The physical appearance of the please does nothing to alter the effect of what is being requested of me, the goddamn Son of Batman."

"….Is that a yes?"

Damian scowled. He was already dressed in his Robin costume and ready for another night of patrol. He was not taking Dick's request of staying behind tonight very well.

"That's a **no** Grayson."

"The Titans have asked you to come over to the tower and have a sleep over Dami. They want to get to know you better. The polite thing to do is except his invitation," Dick drawled on. He wasn't looking like he was going to surrender soon.

"Gotham needs protecting."

"Gotham could survive a night without Robin."

"I don't have time to deal with foolish things such as the ones the Beast Boy has asked of me."

"He has asked you to come over and play video games, eat junk food, and watch movies."

"Exactly. The movies are nothing but poorly written motion pictures that I can gain no knowledge from. The junk food would only harm my perfect body. The video games are mindless play things that require no skill to achieve at."

"Have you even played a video game?"

"…"

"Ha!"

"Silence naïve!"

"Colin is going to be there."

"I don't care."

"Alfred already packed your sleeping bag Damian. You are going."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"I can force you to go."

"You can force me to go, but there is nothing you can do, Grayson, to keep me from leaving as soon as the Batmobile leaves the Titan's driveway."

Damian's triumphant smirk really irked Dick.

"You are going."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"….. How about if you go to the sleep over at Titan's Tower- and stay the whole night- I give you back your sword you that I took from you after you attempted to stab Tim."

"Are you trying to bribe me Grayson?"

"I give you back the sword I took, and the knives Stephanie confiscated from you when you attempted to behead her."

"She was asking for it."

"Someone is always asking for it. Do we have a deal or not?"

"No. Your petty attempts of incentive do nothing but make yourself look pathetic and desperate."

"How about I give you back your sword, your knives, and I let you take the Batmobile for a spin."

"….. Fine… I suppose if it means so much to you... GRAYSON STOP THAT FOOLISH JUMPING THIS INSTANT! THIS IS NO MANNER FOR THE BATMAN TO ACT IN! I AM THE SON OF BATMAN, GODDAMN IT!

….

"Goddamn it. Another round."

"I think you had enough buddy."

"Do you want my money or not?" asked a slightly drunk Jason Todd.

The bartender shook his head and grabbed the fistful of bills from the criminal. Jason was one of the only few patrons left in the establishment. It was about two in the morning, so who could judge the lack of flow.

The Red Hood was in a bit of bad mood tonight.

"Hey man. Why the long face?"

Jason turned to see a young blonde woman sit next to him. She was wearing a short blue dress under a trench coat. She looked like she had some where to be tonight. So why was she here?

"Oh, you know the usual. Wife's unhappy. Drug ring isn't doing well. Got arrest warrant on my head. Failed to take over the world again this week," replied Jason taking a swig of his drink. The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Kidding. I don't have a wife," Jason chuckled dryly. The blonde began to laugh. Not laugh. _Giggle._ What kind of maniac giggled in Gotham?

"I'll have a beer please," blonde managed to say through snickers. She pulled out an I. D. and a few dollars. The bartender gladly took the money and poured the girl a drink. He then turned and walked to the back room, leaving Jason and the blonde alone.

"You cannot possible over twenty one," stated Jason as he let himself take in the blonde in front of him. He thought her blue eyes were quiet beautiful.

The blonde shrugged. "Where else could I try out my fake I.D.? Porn isn't exactly my thing after all."

This time it was Jason's turn to laugh.

"Nice hair, by the way. Must have a story behind that huh," the blonde mentioned, nodding to Jason's white curl in the mass of black hair. Jason stopped laughing.

"Does it ever."

The two sat in silence for a moment.

"So why are you really here sunshine?" asked Jason breaking the tension.

"Sunshine? Didn't we get oddly chummy very fast?" inquired the blonde as she swallowed a big gulp of beer.

"Not to brag, but I am a people person." Jason said very smoothly.

"Darn right you are," said the blonde with a smirk.

"So are you going to tell me or not?"

The blonde looked at her cup for a moment. She sighed.

"Party. Boy. Happy beginning. Bad ending. This dress is not my color," she said with a mouthful of alcohol.

"Oh," was all Jason could make out. Typical teenage girl problems.

"What's your story?" asked the blonde. Jason's cool blue eyes narrowed.

"You don't want to know."

The girl looked at Jason for a moment. Not looked. Stared. Jason shifted a bit under her gaze. She was making him uncomfortable. Why was she staring at him like that? No not staring at him. **Seeing **him.

The blonde finished her drink and picked up a napkin and scribbled on it. She held it out for Jason. He took it.

"Whatever it is, I bet you can get through it. You look like you've been through a lot, and you look like you can handle whatever this is. Just remember that tomorrow is a new day, and another second chance. My name's Stephanie by the way."

And with that the blonde turned and walked out the door.

Jason looked at the note it had a phone number on it. Jason let the corners of his lips rise into a smile.

…

Bart Allen could not stop smiling.

"One. More. Round." hissed Robin. His face was almost completely purple and his knuckles were white from holding the Wii remote too tight. It seemed like the Boy Wonder wasn't very good at Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Cassandra Sandsmark was sitting at the kitchen table together watching Bart, Garfeild, Abuse, Robin, and her _sort of_ boyfriend Conner 'bonding' in the living room. Cassie didn't care much for video games and decided to enjoy a cup of tea with Raven. Raven decided not to play aswell because… Raven… was Raven.

"Is it just me or was letting the bat brat play Wii a bad idea?" Cassie wondered aloud. She watched Bart do his victory dance. She turned to Raven, but as usual, she didn't look worried at all.

"Cassandra, do not fret for the boy," she said as she took a sip of tea she too was intrigued by Kid Flash's dance.

"I do not 'fret for the boy'. I fret for the everyone else. Robin has been known to like pointy things." Cassie pointed out.

"So does Rose."

"Don't get me started on Rose, Rae. Robin is a spoiled brat, and he is taking this game way to seriously." A whoop of laughter came from the boys in the other room. Ravager had shown up with more candy.

Raven turned her head and watched the boys some more. She narrowed her eyes, and then relaxed.

"You have nothing to worry about, Cassandra. Robin is having much fun. More fun than he would care to admit."

"Fun? I'm not so sure."

"I am quite positive," said Raven with a smile. "I think we all could use some more of it."

….

"More of what?"

"I asked you if you could use a bit more company, Sunshine."

Stephanie Brown was supposed to be having fun at a party right now. Let's just say some pepper spray, a sheep, and a noisy sophomore got in her way. Blue was a bad color for her. She ended up in a bar instead with some interesting company. Now she was heading home, when the interesting company followed her out of the bar.

Stephanie sized up the man in front of her. He was big, with lots of muscle, with really pretty blue eyes. He was trouble. But she was Stephanie Brown, and she could handle anything.

"Sure, but are you sure that your drink will be okay with you ditching her like that? " Steph asked with a grin.

"The streets are dangerous this time night. Can't a boy just walk a fair maiden home without his ale's consent?"

This wasn't exactly what her mom meant by slowing down. But being a bat meant you took what you could get.

"Fine by me." Stephanie chuckled. After all, it wasn't everyday that the Red Hood offered to take you home.

….

"You know it isn't every day I meet a girl like you."

Tam Fox opened her eyes. In front of her was Tim Drake, in a suit and holding fresh roses out for her.

"Tim!" exclaimed Tam. Tim sat down and passed her the flowers. Tam just pushed them to the side.

"Look, Tam, I'm really sorry, for everything-"Tim began. He looked truly sorry. But Tam didn't like to see Tim sad.

"Just shut up for a once." Tam's lips connected with Tim's silencing the boy. The spent a moment kissing before Tam broke the spell.

"Assassins again, huh?" she snickered. The waiter poured champagne for the both of them.

"Yeah. I got the worst luck huh?" laughed Tim.

"It must be difficult to be a superhero some days." Tam said as she picked up her glass.

"I'd toast to that." Tim mused. Their glasses clicked together and the two dove into conversation.

Maybe being a superhero wasn't so difficult after all.


End file.
